Beetlejuice 2: A Hilarious Shoutout to Glengarry Glen Ross!
Beetlejuice 2's Unexpected Alec Baldwin Connection!
Beetlejuice 2 (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), is finally here, bringing back many familiar faces from the original, including the iconic Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), and even Lydia Deetz (Wynona Ryder). However, this long-awaited sequel completely missed out on some seriously important people from the first installment! This new sequel's storytelling greatly affects some of these key plot decisions, especially those surrounding the surprising omission of the Maitlands (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis), creating that immediately impactful surprise: These people, initially featured extremely prominently, got excluded completely in this unexpected manner.
However, despite this rather shocking lack of their presence; it's surprising that Alec Baldwin still somehow ended up impacting this sequel through one unusual detail: The office layout for Betelgeuse’s new job! And we all will now delve into the very specific manner this rather odd and unexpected connection has ended up existing!
Betelgeuse's New Gig: A Shoutout to Glengarry Glen Ross!
Betelgeuse remains mostly the same! However, the key change is that infamous and totally ridiculous new job– this one makes Betelgeuse into the manager of an afterlife call center. It’s absurd; that's the joke! And what does this completely have to do with Alec Baldwin, you may ask? That office? That boiler room-esque call center space? Director Tim Burton specifically mentions how it's clearly inspired by that totally memorable and intense office environment found in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) – an incredibly tense drama focusing on extremely competitive real estate agents, desperately trying to avoid getting fired. It was inspired by its style, down to those rather odd Century 21-esque yellow suits that were adopted as uniforms. Even the main protagonist in Glengarry Glen Ross only appears once yet its the key moment and memory for audiences. The brilliance from these changes; the design of that afterlife office and its intense visual layout was an important story point that affected how people reacted in various key areas which helped convey this key feeling that all the characters are part of a stressful, somewhat desperate and extremely tense situation! Even more surprisingly this made a large enough of an impact to be mentioned by Tim Burton himself, demonstrating just why these particular details have affected viewers and its important implications to the storyline of that entire production.
Betelgeuse's Afterlife Empire (and Its Mismanagement!)
Betelgeuse's afterlife call center gig (replacing the retired Juno) handles all those recently deceased seeking afterlife help and it's exactly what the Maitlands originally contact Betelgeuse for. It includes this massive workforce (Shrinkers)–and this amazing sequel shows that Bob remains Betelgeuse’s top employee! There is a larger, slightly crazy-sounding plot in this part of the story too: that same chaotic style, causing the entire team of Shrinkers to accidentally enter the living world!
Why Alec Baldwin Skipped Beetlejuice 2: Tim Burton’s Creative Choices
One of the biggest shocks from Beetlejuice 2 was those missing Maitlands! Why didn't Alec Baldwin return? Director Tim Burton mentioned that it wasn't due to some behind-the-scenes issues. He just wanted a totally different direction which would showcase some completely other aspects: It was completely his creative decision. This makes sense because Beetlejuice 2 focused on that intense, powerful mother-daughter dynamic; and this totally explains some of the many structural changes and unexpected turns for character development which really only became known once people viewed the product, because the changes would make certain decisions unavoidable and it’s why that entire new plot point focusing on that alternate afterlife world called the Great Beyond became important.
Conclusion: Unexpected Details and Creative Vision
That Glengarry Glen Ross reference adds layers to Beetlejuice 2. It's a hilarious nod, bringing a serious level of appreciation for what these specific productions really managed; generating a completely different type of scene based entirely on a surprisingly odd selection criteria, entirely achieved by the work of the directors alone, resulting in what many viewers enjoyed. That unique touch showcases Tim Burton’s creative brilliance; making unexpected choices that end up providing unexpected layers! Even though those changes involved missing main characters, those clever and highly specific artistic decisions generated a really unexpected result. This unique combination truly created something special which made many viewers want more, providing immense success through some remarkably interesting choices!
